A Formula that looks good

Though we are yet to see an end to the debate whether motor racing is a sport or a meaningless practice involving profligate spending in countries like India, the frenzy created by Indian Grand Prix has surely captured the nation’s sports freaks’ fancy. The second Indian GP, held at Greater Noida’s Buddh International Circuit on Sunday, might not have attracted capacity crowd like the inaugural edition in 2011, yet it turned out to be a success with over 65,000 spectators adding to the ear-splitting noise level as cars flew past unevenly elevated tracks at full throttle. If not anything else, the successful conduct of a top-end event like Formula One race for two successive years has once again proved that India can organize an event of such a large scale. More so after the huge uproar that tarnished the build-up to the Commonwealth Games in 2010. The inaugural edition did spark fears that farmers will cause troubles because of the inadequate compensations given to them against lands which were acquired to build the 5.371 km BIC track that cost a whooping $400 million. However, the smooth conduct of the second Indian GP shows that the new destination has has succeeded in drawing praises from Formula One officials as well as the drivers. The new generation of avid Formula one fans gives India an edge in luring F1 bosses who are now mulling the idea of holding two races in the country, mainly because of the dip in spectators’ interest in other Asian countries like China, Korea.

It is a known fact that Indians are keen supporters of any sport. And they did enjoy watching Red Bull’s two-time defending world champion Sebastian Vettel retaining his Indian GP title after successfully quashing challenges from nearest rival Fernando Alonso of Ferrari and teammate Mark Webber before to winning the exciting race with a lead of 9.4 seconds. However, it was also visible that the presence of celebrity cricketers and film stars were lesser than 2011. But the dip doesn’t necessarily mean the sport is going down in terms of popularity. The build-up to the event was keenly followed by F1 fans and even the common people were seen jostling for taking photographs along side the celebrated drives as well as models of racing cars displayed around the city at various shopping arcades. The future of motor racing in India indeed looks good but it has to be seen how the facility is utilised for the overall development of sports in the country.